A Changing Star
by the American Revolution
Summary: When Odd and Yumi overcome tragedy together will the bond made be strong enough to keep them together? M for language and suggestive eyebrow-waggling material.
1. To Wish Upon

A/N: SHORT STORY just had a hankerin.

CHAPTER ONE- To Wish Upon…

Odd had been awake for almost an hour, but lay still in his bed watching the clock tick closer to 8. He still had his arms wrapped around Yumi, and had thought several times since 7 about calling in sick. But he had to go, _too many bills on the table to be skippin out on hours_, he smiled at the thought.

_Our bills._

It had been almost 3 months since Yumi and Odd had decided to move in together. It was amazing at first, that whole 'living on love' feeling had warmed the air. But it had gotten rocky the past few weeks, and last night Odd thought everything was going to fall apart.

He shifted a little under the sheets and felt Yumi's bare skin softly graze his. He smiled again and nuzzled his face to the back of her neck.

They had fought the night before, their first big fight, and just when Odd thought Yumi was ready to walk out, things somehow turned around.

/*/

Odd flipped the grilled cheese he was making and took another drink of his beer. He looked at Yumi, hunched over a notebook at the table. He smiled. She had one leg pulled up, one hand pushing her hair back, her head resting on it, the other speeding across the paper. He frowned. _Fucking Journal. _He knew she wrote in it every night before bed religiously. They practically lived with each other before they even started renting together, so there's no way he miscalculated her obsession. She had definitely become much more…_involved_ with the book after they moved in here, than she had been before. He turned off the stove and put the sandwich on a napkin, and sat down next to her.

He leaned over her shoulder, "what ya' doin''".

"Writing."

There was a little squeeze on his heart at her short and biting response.

He tried again, "So I was thinking, we haven't broken in the new mattress yet. What say you and I test it out tonight, see if we got our money's worth?" He nudged her.

She snapped the journal shut and stood up, grabbed a white envelope from her purse sitting on the table and flung it at Odd. "We shouldn't have bought the fucking mattress."

Odd picked up the envelope without taking his eyes off of her, "What's this?"

She rolled her eyes, "The fucking cut off notice for our electricity Odd!" She pulled a small group of envelopes from her purse this time, "And here is the water bill, and the reminder that our car payment was due last week, and the payment on the bed." She flung them at him one by one.

"Maybe we wouldn't be so broke if you didn't have a six pack of beer on every grocery list, or if we cut off the cable or internet, or if you stopped buying a new movie every other day of the week just like I suggested from the fucking beginning; or_ maybe _if you hadn't insisted on buying that fucking mattress. So no, no Odd we will not be 'breaking it in' tonight, or tomorrow night or the next. I'm sick of all the late bills, I'm sick of being broke, and I am sick of you." She was breathing heavily and something behind her eyes, behind the money speech glinted. Odd saw it. He didn't know what it was but it was bigger than money problems.

"What's your problem? You're stressed out on bills fine I get it. I get that, you think I like all the late notices? Yumi, babe, I get that. But what I don't get is why the hell you would say that to me, say you're 'sick' of me. What the fuck, what did I do? If I recall right that bottle of wine on the counter is yours. And I had the cable cut off last week, remember? We talked about it. And I don't buy a movie every other day, even when I do get one you're right there, deciding which one with me. So what the fuck is the real problem? You've been acting weird for awhile now and I can't help but think you're thinking moving in together was a mistake. And not because of the money." He stopped talking and realized his hands were shaking and he had stood up. He couldn't believe he had just yelled at her like that. He could see she wasn't too happy about it either. She shook her head and grabbed her purse, then turned and headed for the living room.

"Where are you going? Yumi!" Odd followed her to the door where she dug in her purse for her keys.

"I just need some space Odd, okay? Just…Just leave me alone."

"No." He grabbed her purse.

"Odd, what the fuck. I'm not playing give me my damn purse I want to leave."

"Leave me?" He felt his eyes burn, and saw Yumi glimpse it; something hung there between them…_regret?...no, it's-_

"Oh God, Baby I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She was still breathing heavily from the fight but there was a slight hitch to it that told Odd she was holding back tears.

"I'm just…I'm just stressed out Babe. All these bills, half of them are late!" She sighed and rubbed her eyes. Odd instinctively moved closer to put his arms around her. For a split second he thought he felt her ready to pull away, but she fell into him.

"We'll get caught up Yumi, it's not gonna be like this forever. We'll just be stretched a little these first couple of months." He kissed the top of her head, "I'll pick up extra shifts at work; I could even take next semester off from school, that-" this time she did pull away.

"You're not taking off time from school Odd! I'm sorry I made such a big deal out of this… I just…I'm sorry. I don't want to fight anymore. And I'm sorry I've been so…" She paused not sure what to call her recent behavior. That made Odd feel a little better; she didn't know_ what _to call it which meant it wasn't a _who_. His heart fluttered with relief.

"…But it's not you." She paused and he thought he saw her face fall for just a second. She whispered in a cracking voice, "Please, don't ever think it's your fault, Odd." He felt bad standing there watching her shift back and forth trying to maintain control. He had started this. Sure she had been acting distant the past few weeks but instead of asking what was wrong he just waited until it all blew up.

He closed in the space between them and lifted up her chin, "Baby, _I'm _sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I know you're stressed…I am too. We just…we just have to stay strong…stay together. We'll get through it." She started crying. _What the hell! What'd I say!_

"Babe, wha-"

"Shut up." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in.

/*/

The sound of his phone vibrating on the night stand pulled him from his memory of the happy ending. He picked it up, the alarm going off flashed 8:10 a.m. at him. Less than an hour to get ready for work and drive the 15 minutes to get there; he hurried out of bed as carefully and quietly as he could.

/

REVIEW!...p-p-p-pleeeease…


	2. When the Morning Comes

ACS CH2  
>AN: So very sorry about the issues in the first chapter. The internet I'm working with is bogus! But it's been adjusted. Not that anything was terribly wrong of course, just breaks in the story that weren't showing up online and I felt they were needed. But at last it is fixed so on to the next chapter!

Chapter Two-When the Morning Comes…

Yumi lay silent and still as she listened to Odd shuffle quietly around the bedroom getting ready for work. After what seemed like several hours he kissed her hair and left the room.

The clanking of his hand digging in the change jar…the jingle of keys… door snap… lock click…and the engine on his beat up Blazer sputtered to life.

Yumi kicked the sheets away and fell on her knees to drag a duffle bag from under the bed. The carpet was warm from the sun streaming in through the windows.

_The windows! _

Yumi pulled the top sheet off of the bed and quickly covered herself. The blinds were only halfway up though, and she had been on the floor. Besides, _No one else is up and peeping at this hour, _she thought to herself; irritated by the wasted time she jumped up and lowered the blinds to cover the other halves of the windows.

She tossed the duffle on to the bed and turned to the dresser.

_Bra, shorts, socks, t-shirt. _

She repeated the mantra as she moved from the dresser to the closet. A pair of black converse to complete the outfit and she started to work again. Everything from her side of the dresser fit into the duffle. Everything she needed anyway. Only a couple of things were collected from the closet, most dresses skirts and high heels were left behind.

_They're nice, he could sell them. Make some money._

Her brain tugged at her heart, begging it to react appropriately to the cold and non emotional thought.

_No. He needs this just as much. He'll be better. He will. _

She wasn't convincing herself, but pushed that thought and what little warmth had remained in her to the side. No time for that, there was work to do.

She carried the full duffle bag to the kitchen and sat it on the table. Her journal still lay there, among the bills she'd flung from her purse. Her eyes traveled over the table set then to the floor. Their clothes.

She scooped up her and odd's outfits from the night before and carried them to the trash, then pulled the garbage bag from its receptacle, tied it up, and left it by the front door.

After replacing the trash bag Yumi grabbed her pen from the table and pulled her journal closer. Opening to a blank page she began to write:

_Odd, it's not your fault. Nothing you could have done would have stopped this. When Ulrich passed I believe we needed each other so much, the company and the sympathy, that neither of us saw the danger in it. The danger in growing so close so quickly, and for all the wrong reasons. I've left you extra money in the savings account. I've taken my name from it and the checking. It's all yours. I spoke to Marcus, he can move in as soon as Monday. Everything's set up. Just collect the rent from him._

She paused, unsure how much detail she should go into on reasons whys this was happening. Unsure how long her goodbye should be. Which would hurt him less? Short and cold, or long and sappy?

Something about the calculating of a thing that should be natural made her shiver. Something clicked.

_I've become someone I don't recognize. If you could see inside of me you would feel the same way. Something's changed. Shifted. I can't explain it and I don't think it matters. 'Why' shouldn't matter. Just take this as fact and know, please Odd, know that you played no part in this change. You'll be fine. I know you will be. You won't see me again. I'm sorry, so sorry. I wish I could have been stronger for you but some people are broken more easily than others, and never fully repaired. I'm broken Odd. You deserve someone whole and warm like you are. I hope that you find that. You deserve it. _

_I Lo_

She stopped, it was just a motion. A habit that had formed in the year they'd been together. Nothing more. She hadn't realized until now how hard she had worked to really mean it when she had said it. Her pen struck with force through the letters. A little ink bled at the end from her forceful strike and the pause on the paper.

_How appropriate, _she thought, and began again.

_Don't miss me._

_Yumi_

She left the note on his pillow in the bedroom. She wanted to trace the spot where he had lay only an hour before. It might still be warm. She wanted to hug his pillow, crawl back into bed and sleep until he came home.

Her hearts rhythm sped and her brain began a slide show she wasn't quick enough to stop.

First Ulrich's face smiling at her from the driver's side of his Saturn; then a truck, black, too fast…too big. The trees, the road. Lights flashing and voices calling from a distance. Then it was dark. Yumi remembered wondering at that moment if she was dead. Then the pain flared and she knew she wasn't. More lights and voices assaulted her while she tried to remember why she hurt.

Someone squeezed her hand.

"Yumi?" Her eyes fluttered open to a grinning Odd. "She's awake!" He went to release her hand and back away to let someone else near the bed. Yumi tightened her grip, and he didn't move.

"Yumi? Oh my baby, my baby! You're alright; oh you're going to be just fine. I'm right here…" Odd was jammed between the rail of Yumi's bed and the monitor beside it as her mother got as close to Yumi as the tubes and wires hanging from her limbs would allow. Her mother continued to coddle her and Yumi could see her father behind Odd, back against the wall. He was smiling, his eyes red.

For them it was a happy moment. Yumi stared at her mother without really seeing, trying to muster up the strength to look into Odds eyes; she knew the answer to the only question she had right now would be there. The blurred memories of the accident and the pain she felt right now told her almost everything.

The red truck had collided with Ulrich's Saturn on his side.

Yumi felt the heavy plaster on both of her legs, the sling keeping her shoulder in socket, and the neck brace keeping her chin held up. If she was this bad…

Her eyes burned and there was another gentle squeeze on her hand.

Yumi tilted her head slightly, and then allowed her eyes to finally glide up and meet Odd's. He was happy, not smiling, eyes more red than her fathers. He caught her glance for only a second then quickly looked away. But Yumi had seen enough. Too much.

"No." It was so low even Yumi didn't realize she'd said it.

"What baby? What's wrong? Does it hurt?" Her mother looked around for the 'Nurse Call' button.

"No." This time it was louder, a guttural sound. She couldn't breathe. Surely she would die; drowned by this feeling rearing up in her chest. It pressed down on her lungs and squeezed her hurt to the point of bursting.

"No! No, no, no, no. Pl-pl-ee-ee-easse no!" the words erupted as sobs. Her breath hitched as she begged them, begged them to tell her she was wrong.

Her mother simply starred, unsure of what to say; and if she did know, then _how_ to say it.

"What can we do Yumi? What do you need honey?" It was her father who spoke this time. Something inside of her splintered.

"ULRICH!" she saw them all jump at the volume she had reached.

"Where is he? WHERE IS ULRICH?" She knew the answer, and it only made her angrier.

She began to twist and flail her arms, ripping out IVs and trying to push off the white hospital blankets.

Her mother and Odd tried to hold her still.

"GET OFF OF ME!" This time Yumi hadn't recognized her own voice.

_Is this what it feels like to go crazy?_

Something else snapped. Only this time it wasn't internal. Her shoulder was on fire, and the heat radiated to her fingertips.

"Ahhhhhrrrrrhh!" She fell still immediately, but focused on this new burning, physical pain. It hurt less than the pressure on her heart.

The nurses had flown into the room, and redressed the many stitches atop a re-dislocated shoulder.

Odd had stayed the entire time. He stayed while she learned to use her legs again. He stayed when the doctors prescribed anti depressants. He let her talk, or let her stay silent. He gave advice, or just sat in the silence with her. He had stayed with her in a place no one else could reach or understand. And when Yumi was ready to leave that place, there Odd was. Patient with her baby steps and exuberant over even the tiniest glance she gave to the future. He was there.

Ulrich wasn't.

Building a relationship around the absence of something that had once felt vital to your existence is never a good idea. But Yumi had allowed it anyway. And for awhile it was wonderful. For awhile she was steady.

But then she started to slip. To fall, not back to the dark she had lay in before, but into a new light. A light too far from Odd for them to both play parts in her life.

Yumi felt another pang of guilt. Odd had once been her light. Guiding her from a wicked place. But this new glow, she had fallen into it, and then absorbed it.

She had become her own light.

And no matter how much she wanted Odd, it would never be enough. She did not _need_ him.

If a person doesn't need to have the green leaf, why shouldn't they take the apple…?

And that's exactly what Yumi had done. One week ago, she had taken a bite of sin; tasted its bitter sweet filling. Savored the delicacy that was almost too good; in the back of her mind she had known it would lead to a downfall. But when the apple is in your hand and the serpent is whispering sweet-nothings in your ear, you can't help but want more.

/

A/N: I didn't break that flashback away from the presentish story, I thought it worked better. I don't think it reads confusingly. But please REVIEW!


	3. As Darkness Falls

**DISCLAIMER: Sorry, don't own CL or the Characters.**

**A/N- REVIEW! Sorry this chap took awhile.**

**Chapter 3- As Darkness Falls…**

Yumi backed away from the bed. No, this has to be done. It's for the best. Even if she stayed she would have to tell him that, not once but twice, she had cheated on him. And not twice with one person; two different people had been able to steal her attention from him. Just long enough to do irreparable damage.

The first had meant little more than a bridge. A path to something more. His name was Mark. The most simple of names. Nothing special about it; and, though she hated to admit it, nothing very special about the man behind the name. He was attractive and in the right place. When you're drunk and alone and someone hot wants to know your name, you don't exactly wait to hear his pick up line. Once they had made it back to his car in the dimly lit parking lot of the small bar, Yumi had allowed a breathy whisper of 'I'm Mark by the way' and on they went. It had meant nothing. That tore Yumi apart more than anything. She had had Odd at home, always eager to please in any way she needed him to. And yet there she was dragging eager nail across this strangers back, just for the thrill. The thought of feeling something other than loss for Ulrich and love for Odd; just anything out of the ordinary, anything off the path of her everyday life.

She shivered out of the memory and jolted up and the sound of an approaching car.

She knew it wasn't Odd, he had no reason to be home now.

The bright red truck pulled up to the house with muted music thudding through the windows. The blonde woman inside looked around at the house, then shut off the engine and opened her door.

Bottom to top she screamed 'unique'. And the wonderful thing about it, what had attracted Yumi to her dazzling light, was that she no idea just how brightly she shined.

Yumi watched her climb out of the truck; she was wearing her normal converse jeans and t look. Black converse, jeans with a nice rolled cuff because she was only 5'4 and almost too thin so none of her jeans ever fit perfectly. Her belt buckle was a blue one with the batman symbol in the middle, rhinestones covered it. Her shirt was tucked behind it, sleeves rolled up. She had pushed her white sunglasses on top of her head and was squinting at the sun as she lit her cigarette.

Yumi knew when she got into the truck it would smell like smoke and hair conditioner. And that the sound track to Rent would be on.

She smiled at the thought.

Eri had been the second. And it had meant a lot. So much that Yumi knew leaving Odd had to happen. Being with Eri had changed Yumi, made her realize that there was more in the world; more to see and do and experience.

Yumi didn't love Eri. She cared for her, and enjoyed being around her, but she did not love her. Eri was here to give Yumi a ride to the airport, and then it would be off to California. Yumi had been working on saving money, and had enough to get her by without a job for at least 3 months. Marcus was a boy who had answered Odds online request for a roommate. Yumi had sorted it out with him and he would be moving in soon. Odd wouldn't be stuck without help. He would be fine. He would finish school and be happy. Find another girl, an unbroken girl, and he would be happy. He would move on and have a family and be happy.

_He will be happy. _Yumi was sure she had made the right decision.

She turned from the window and made her way to the living room. It was clean, everything was clean. She had worked on it the night before, making sure he didn't have anything to worry about other than reading the letter and moving on. At least for today.

_He will be okay. _

She couldn't dwell on it any longer.

Yumi left her house key on the coffee table, along with her key to his blazer. She set an envelope of money beside them.

She had sold the jewelry he'd given her, he wouldn't have to worry about, or see it. And he had some extra cash.

She didn't look back as she shut the front door behind her. Eri was still sitting on the side of the truck waiting for her. She smiled.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine. Let's just get out of here." _Put as much space between me and these memories as possible._

"Alright then, let's go! Hey, I was thinking this morning, I might come with you. Nothing here for me. Or maybe Nevada…I want to see Vegas." Erii climbed back into the truck and leaned over to unlock the passenger door for Yumi. She climbed in.

"You should. It'd be nice to know someone near by." Yumi smiled and shook her head. Eri was so unpredictable she was border line unstable. She would probably end up going to California, then Nevada. Then who knew where else.

Yumi took a deep breath and just held her eyes looking forward and they pulled away. She wouldn't ever be back. She wouldn't ever see him again. A shadow of the past, cast away by new light.

She knew everything would work out. It had to.

She stared out the window, _this is what the universe feels when one star burns out, and another is born. A change occurs within and entire universe. And every being there knows it, feels it. While there is death to one light, a new one is ignited, stronger than ever. They aren't dying._

"I think the stars just change. They only shift from one place to another. They never really die, or disappear." Yumi kept staring out the window.

She saw Eri grin.

"You're a changing star, Yumi."

**The end! PLEASE REVIEW! **


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